New study- exposure to contaminated pollen Alters Bee Susceptibility to Nosema

[tjc1]

Title: Crop Pollination Exposes Honey Bees to Pesticides Which Alters Their Susceptibility to the Gut Pathogen Nosema ceranae

It indicates that fungicides, previously thought harmless to bees, may play a role.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0070182#authcontrib

[Michael Bush]

When you realize that a bee colony is it's own ecology and that pollen is a fermented product that requires yeasts as well as bacteria, then the impact of fungicides (which will kill yeasts) becomes a concern.  They have assumed since bees aren't fungi that it wouldn't affect them.  As usual assumptions are often wrong...